I'm poised to get a new 358 Win. I'm looking at some discontinued NIB Ruger M77 Hawkeyes and Browning BLR Lightweight 81 BLRs. The BLR will run a little more than the Ruger, but the BLR is such a nice, neat, fun-looking little gun. Which would you get and why? I'd like the BLR if I thought it would be as accurate as the Ruger.

I like both rifles, at least when talking short-actions. The BLR in a long-action like the 30-06 is heavy, cumbersome and ungainly to my way of thinking. In a short-action? Very nice, and very accurate.

Now, I won't kid you, 358 WIN is a bit of an over-kill on whitetail deer, but overkill is nice. [:)] Having said that, I'm out this weekend with my 35 Whelen. 200 grain Corelokts are GREAT. Stick with the round nose. I found the PSPCL's to be a bit too sturdy for deer.

Where I've been hunting is fairly thick with shots lees than 100 yards. I have a 270 that has worked well, but I'd rather use it for hunts where longer, more open shots are taken. I have a 7mm-08 as well, and it is great, but I've been wanting this 358 for some time now.

I have a BLR 81 in .358 Win and love it. Very light gun and feels real good in my hands, shoulders well, accurate. The quality and finish is what you would expect from Browning, excellent !! Good luck !!

LOL. It seems so. I hunt in the woods and I seldom have a real clear shot without some brush in the way. Shots are close, usually in the 50 - 75 yard range. I tend to go down the "roads less traveled" with gear in general. I like to have something different.

Also, I will say that all but 2 deer I've shot with my 270 and 7mm-08 ran out of sight after I shot them, and I barely could tell that they had been hit. I found them all, and most I could hear fall just within earshot. Shot placement on each couldn't have been any better. They might do the same when I shoot them with the 358, but I'd like to think the knockdown power of a slower, but much bigger bullet will put em down a little closer to where they are shot. I plan on using the 270 for situations I may run into where I'm hunting more open areas and fields. The 7mm-08, while very accurate and joy to shoot, will be my back-up gun when I travel and may need a gun in case my primary firearm gets a dinged scope or an improbable malfunction. I've been hunting with guys that dropped their guns and felt like their scope was knocked off target or the gun itself malfunctioned and they did not have another firearm to fall back on because we were too far from home or at a remote location. I know, too much information.

I was out this weekend with The Whelenizer, a 7600 in 35 Whelen, sighting in a new scope. I've got my 35 Whelen loaded to around 358 WIN specs. It's not all that bad, recoil-wise. With 200 grainers, it feels about equal to a full-house 180 grain 30-06.

What you buy with .358 chambering over a .30-something is retained energy. It's going to deliver a good whallop on the deer. Of course, with a whitetail, that whallop is going to be mostly spent on the dead leaves and dirt the bullet hits after it exits, but it's always nice to know you have it.